


Old Habits

by Munarloth



Series: 36 Questions That Lead to Love [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 36 questions, but not like cotton candy fluff, it's fluff okay, more like day in the life fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 20:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13015185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munarloth/pseuds/Munarloth
Summary: "Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?"The Gryffindor 6th years have an eventfully uneventful train ride back to school.





	Old Habits

Lily Evans clutched the handle of her trunk tightly as she stepped off the train. King’s Cross looked the same as ever, despite the fact that she had somehow expected the station to look completely different--maybe because this time, for the first time, she was arriving alone. She had spent the better part of the last week convincing her mum to let her travel alone on the local train on the morning of September 1st after Petunia had made it abundantly clear that she would not be joining them to see Lily off, but the fight was worth it that Mum wouldn’t have to travel back to Cokeworth by herself. 

She loaded her trunk onto a trolley and made her way to a newsstand for her last Muggle chocolate bar until Christmas. Tucking her purchase into her bag, she headed for Platform 9 ¾. There were still several Hogwarts families milling about on the Muggle side, but Lily hurried as a station announcement noted the time at 10:50. The Wizarding side of the platform was as bustling as ever, full of old friends getting reacquainted as parents said hurried goodbyes. Lily pushed thoughts of her family from her mind as she dragged her trunk up the platform. 

“Evans!”

Lily sighed, turning at the sound of one of the last voices she wanted to hear that morning. “Potter.”

He was taller than he had been in June. “Alright, Evans? Have a good summer?”

She nodded, glancing around for any of her other friends as an escape, but there was only James. “You?”

“Yeah, it was alright--good--a lot of Quidditch.”  

“That’s nice.” He looked nervous, hands twitching at his sides, and Lily was running out of patience. “Alright, well...we should really get on the train, so…”

“Right. Need any help with your trunk?”

“No--erm, thanks. See you at school.”

“Right.”

She turned and quickly made her way down the platform before James could say anything else. She wasn’t sure that she was properly over what happened after OWLs, and now really wasn’t the time to hash that out. She heaved her trunk onto the train and dragged it down the corridor, dodging small children--they couldn’t be  _ first years _ , was she ever that small?--and eventually spotted her friends through a compartment window. Mary slid the door open and Marlene helped to heft her trunk up into the holding above.

“Lily!” She was quickly enveloped in a hug, then another. “How was your summer? Is your mum here? I’m sorry I didn’t owl more--”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I took the express from Cokeworth--Mum was busy this morning. Summer was fine. Yours?”

“Uneventful, mostly. I babysat my siblings until they all went to Quidditch camp, then Mum and I were at her friend’s place in the country for a few weeks.”

“I hope that was more fun than it sounds…?”

Marlene shrugged. “I got all my schoolwork done there, anyway.”

“Well that’s something. Mary, please tell me you had more fun than that.”

“Not really--chores around the house, homework, and we went to my aunt’s at the seaside on the weekends. Nothing terribly exciting.”

“Your tan looks great, at least.”

“Thanks! I feel like it took years of lying in the sun to get this dark.”

“I always have to sit under the umbrella.” Lily held out her arms for inspection, frowning at her pale skin.

“Your skin tone suits you so well though, with your hair and everything! I’d kill for those freckles just across your nose.”

“I guess. Maybe there’s a charm for sun protection--I should ask Flitwick when we get back.”

Somewhere a clock struck 11 and the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the platform. Lily settled into her seat, twisting a piece of hair around one finger. The world outside blurred backwards as the train picked up speed. 

Marlene tucked her legs up criss-cross on the seat and looked at Lily expectantly. “So was Snape hanging around your house again this summer?”

Lily groaned and pulled out her cigarette case, lighting a smoke and offering them to her roommates. “He came ‘round once at the beginning of July and I had Mum say I wasn’t home. Of course then she wanted to know why, so I just said we’d grown apart, you know? Petunia said she was glad I was finally finished with ‘ _ that beastly little freak _ ’, and they didn’t ask questions after that”. It was the most Petunia had said to her all summer, besides ‘pass the salt’ and ‘hurry up in the bath, will you’.

The first summer since their dad’s death wasn’t easy, but they had managed. Mum kept busy between work, volunteering, and book club, and Petunia wasn’t really speaking to Lily since Easter. Lily didn’t have an owl to keep up with her friends--her parents always said that it would be too hard to keep it under wraps in their Muggle neighborhood--so she found ways to keep herself occupied, spending two months listening to records, smoking on the back porch, and snogging a Muggle boy from two blocks over in between her shifts at the local Tesco. 

“I hope he leaves you alone this year.”

Marlene agreed, blowing smoke rings into the air between them. “He really is sort of beastly, isn’t he?”

Lily shrugged, cracking the upper window open and blowing her own smoke towards the opening. “No comment.”

“You’re allowed to acknowledge that he’s an arse, you know,” Mary pointed out. “He did call you a...you-know-what.”

“Mudblood.” The other girls winced, and Lily continued. “I know. I know what he is. I just--I don’t know.” She knew that she couldn’t let Severus back into her life after what he did, and she didn’t  _ want _ to, but she didn’t feel like she was quite done grieving yet, either.

All thoughts of Severus Snape vanished when the compartment door slid open without warning and 7th year Dorcas Meadows stuck her head inside. “Hey Lily, don’t forget--oh, you can’t be  _ serious _ . Smoking on the train? Lily, you’re a  _ Prefect _ !”

The 6th years stubbed out their cigarettes at once. Marlene grinned at Dorcas, and Mary at least had the decency to look guilty while Lily Vanished the lingering smoke and the remains of her own cig. “Sorry Dorcas, we weren’t thinking--just a holdover from summer, you know?”

“That’s a poor excuse, but I  _ guess _ I won’t take any points from my own House before we even get to school.”

“Thanks Dorcas, you’re an angel. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Oh, whatever,” Dorcas rolled her eyes. “I just wanted to remind you, the Prefect meeting starts in five minutes.”

“Right, I’ll be right there.”

Marlene relit her cigarette as soon as Dorcas closed the door. “I suppose she got Head Girl, then.”

“Looks like it. Don’t get caught with that. I’ll be back after the meeting.”

* * *

Lily entered the Prefect compartment and made a beeline for the seat next to Remus, decidedly not looking around to see if any of the other 6th year Prefects had arrived yet. “Hey Remus, how were your hols?”

“Pretty good. We were at James’s a lot. How about you?”

“Not bad. Spent a lot of time with Mum. Did you have any trouble with the Transfiguration work? That theory essay took me ages to finish.”

“Nah, James and Sirius are really good at Transfiguration so we all put our notes together. Marlene helped, too--I didn’t expect her to pick up on the theory that quickly but she had it down pretty well by the time she showed up at James’s.”

“Right.” Lily’s brow furrowed. Marlene at Potter’s?

Before she could ask Remus anything else, Dorcas stood up to start the meeting. “Hello everyone, welcome back! I’m Head Girl this year and Kingsley,” the 7th year Slytherin stood up when she mentioned his name, “is your Head Boy. I hope everyone had a nice summer? I know I’m glad to be back after some of those awful headlines in the Prophet--nowhere safer than Hogwarts, right?” A few Prefects murmured in agreement, Lily among them--though she wasn’t sure if she really did entirely agree. Just because Dumbledore was there didn’t mean that bad things couldn’t--wouldn’t--happen.

“Anyway, we’re both very excited for this upcoming year, and we have just a few announcements to make before you get started on patrols. First off, I’d especially like to welcome all of the new 5th years. We’re very happy to have you all on as new Prefects. As a recap, you’ll primarily be expected to patrol the school after hours and make sure no students are out of bed. We’ll be handing out your patrol schedules at the end of the meeting. Kinglsey and I are in charge of setting the schedules, so if any of you have a specific conflict, please let one of us know. You’ll also be patrolling the train until we get to Hogwarts. I want 6th years patrolling for the first half of the trip, 5th years patrolling the second half. Kingsley and I will also be setting the common room passwords, and we will give you each month’s passwords at our biweekly meetings. Now, Kingsley, if you want to…?”

“Yes, of course,” Kingsley said, standing up to take over the announcements. “Professor Dumbledore wanted us to let you know about a new rule that we’ll be helping to enforce this year. From now on, magic in the corridors at school is forbidden.”

Jenny Krampf, a 6th year Ravenclaw, raised her hand. “What if we’re practicing before class?”

Kingsley shook his head. “You’ll just have to practice in your common room. It’s a matter of precaution, after last year’s accidents; Professor Dumbledore just wants to make sure that he’s providing the highest possible level of safety for students while we’re at school.”

“‘Accidents’ my arse,” Lily muttered. Remus shushed her.

“Magic is also now forbidden on the train. Obviously the rest of the student body doesn’t know that yet, so Dorcas and I have decided that during your patrols today, you should issue a warning to any student using magic, and a detention if you catch them a second time.”

“Alright, any questions?” Dorcas pulled a sheaf of parchment from her bag and stood up. “That’s it for the meeting, then. We’ll see you again for the first meeting two Sundays from now! I have copies of your patrol schedules, common room passwords, and the password to the Prefects’ bathroom, so please come get yours before you leave.” 

She handed a sheet each to Lily and Remus, sitting in the front row, and they swiftly made their exit. “That new rule is definitely not just a precaution,” Lily said in a low voice. “Do you remember what Mulciber did to Mary last year? Dumbledore’s mad if he thinks a silly new rule will stop those Death Eater-wannabes.”

“Yeah, but what else can he do? He can’t kick them out just for suspicion--”

“Unfortunately.”

“I know, I agree.”

“Ugh. The whole thing’s just so stupid, anyway.” They made it to Lily’s compartment and she leaned against the door, folding and unfolding and folding again the schedule from Dorcas. “So, do you think your mates will have trouble with the new rule?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Can we not talk about that right now? Term hasn’t even started yet.”

“I know, I know, I’m just kidding--mostly.”

“It just gets a little old. You’re not the only one who mentions it.” 

His voice was sharper than usual, and Lily's cheeks burned. “Sorry.” 

“I know. See you at school?”

She nodded and watched him continue on to the next carriage. The compartment door slid open and Marlene stuck her head out. “Was that Remus out here snapping?” Lily nodded again. “What’d you say to piss him off?”

“There’s a new rule that says we can’t do magic in the corridors at school, and I asked if the others will have trouble with it. I was just kidding, sort of.”

“Oh! Well, if that’s all, then.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I have to go patrol. Do you want anything off the trolley if I pass it?”

“Chocolate, please.”

“There’s actually a bar in my bag if you want some.”

Marlene vanished back into the compartment with a grin and Lily started off down the train. She still needed to ask Marlene about having been at Potter’s, and it occurred to her that the Potters and McKinnons were probably friends--old pureblood families and what not. It also occurred to her that Marlene being at James’s was probably part of why Lily received next to no letters over the summer. She had been surprised, if she was being honest, by the radio silence, but she wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up for a real discussion. And this, knowing that Marlene was at James’s, she would just keep that card close to her chest and wait for Marlene to bring it up herself. 

She traced the outline of the silver case in her pocket as she walked, lamenting the fact that it would be another 10 months before she could sit on her back porch and smoke whenever she wanted. 

By the time she’d made it to the other end of the train, she had worked out more frustration than she realized she even had by giving out three warnings and two detentions, and she hadn’t seen Severus or the sixth year Gryffindor boys even once. This usually wouldn’t bode well for anyone involved, but she pushed it from her mind. She wasn’t the only Gryffindor Prefect and they weren’t her responsibility.  

She made her way through the final passenger carriage, shushing a group of third year boys who thought that shouting was the best way to determine who had made the compartment smell so rank, and finally came to the storage car at the end of the train. Hoping that she wasn’t about to catch anyone with their clothes off and crossing her fingers that she might be able to confiscate some cigarettes by the end of patrol, she opened the door and peeked inside. “Hello? Anyone in here?”

Sudden footsteps behind her set off warning bells in her head and a firm hand on her back pushed her into the carriage. The door crashed shut behind them and she spun around, already pulling her wand out from her jacket sleeve, and stopped short. 

“Severus.” She hadn’t spoken to him since that night outside the Gryffindor common room. 

“Hi, Lils.” He sounded as shy as he had the first time he ever talked to her.

“Don’t call me that.”

Severus’s brow furrowed and he dropped any hint of bashfulness. “What should I call you then,  _ Evans _ ? I’ve called you Lils since we were nine years old.”

“You weren’t friends with Death Eaters when we were nine years old,” Lily said coolly. 

“I’m not a Death Eater,” he growled. He was already starting to pace back and forth.

“I didn’t say you were. No new tattoos yet, then?” She knew it was dangerous to taunt him but she didn’t care. All she could think about was that day after their final exam, and then the look on his face through lacy curtains in her upstairs window as her mum closed the front gate on him in June. 

“Well you wouldn’t know, would you? You wouldn’t even let me on your porch, let alone talk to me,” he spat. Color was rising in his cheeks and he paced closer to Lily. She moved slowly, swallowing when she backed into a stack of crates. “I was just trying to apologize again, and see how your family’s doing.”

“I said all I had to say in June,” Lily said softly. “You chose your path, I chose mine.”

“But Lils, I could  _ help _ you! So much more than Potter or any of his blood-traitor friends. I could  _ protect _ you!”

“What exactly do I need to be protected from?” Her heart was racing as her grip on her wand tightened. 

His eyes darkened. “You know what I’m talking about, Lily.”

“Well how do you know about it if you aren’t one of them? If you’re in with the Death Eaters, how can you protect me?”

“I’m doing what I have to do for  _ you _ !” Lily’s breath caught in her throat; he was suddenly right in front of her, slamming his hands into the wood on either side of her head. Drawing a shuddering breath, he hung his head. He was barely inches from her face, almost whimpering. “Lily. You  _ know _ how I feel about you. Please…” 

She swallowed hard as he ignored the tip of her wand pressing into his chest, and the carriage door slid open loudly. He stiffened at the sound of James Potter’s voice. “Alright, Evans?” 

“We’re having a  _ private _ conversation, Potter.” Severus spun around, pulling his wand from his robes and pointing it at the other boy.

“Everything’s  fine ,” Lily said firmly, slipping out from behind Severus.

“You sure, Evans?” James asked lightly. “Looked to me like Snivellus here was bothering you.” 

Severus made a sound in the back of his throat like an angry animal, and Lily moved to stand in front of his wand. “We had a bit of a misunderstanding, that’s all. Severus was looking for something that I don’t have anymore.”

He looked like a kicked dog, startled but ready to bite. “If you would just  _ listen _ \--”

“Snape it’s  _ over _ , just  go .” Lily couldn’t remember ever speaking to him so coldly, and he seemed to realize it as well. He shouldered past her and James, slamming the door shut behind him. They stood in silence for a moment before Lily spoke. “You don’t even have your  _ wand _ out.”

James shrugged, grinning. “You do. I knew you’d protect me.”

She snorted. “More like Remus told you about the new rules.”

“So? You know about them and you still have yours out,” He said. “A bit of a misunderstanding, huh?” She looked away and crossed her arms. He sighed. “Are you really ok, though?” 

She nodded. “He wouldn’t have hurt me. I know you probably disagree, but at least the Snape I  _ used _ to know wouldn’t have...done anything.” 

James looked around the carriage, his hand rising toward his hair. Lily almost rolled her eyes until his hand stopped to rub the back of his neck, then dropped. “Sometimes, I wish I could have old Godric Gryffindor up for a chat, so I could ask him why he was ever friends with Slytherin in the first place.” He spoke very deliberately.

She chewed over several responses before she quietly answered. “Maybe Slytherin wasn’t so bad in the beginning, and Gryffindor needed him then. And by the time he realized how much things had changed, it was too late to go back.”

“If you say so. I think Gryffindor was well rid of him in the end.” He opened the compartment door and looked back at her. “You heading back to your friends at the front?” She nodded. “Alright. See you at the feast then.”

“Hey!” He turned back, eyebrows raised. “Is Remus still ticked at me?”

He shrugged. “Not really, but you know how he broods.”

“Think you could apologize again for me?”

“Absolutely not.” He flashed her a grin on his way out the door. “I think if you can deal with Snape, you can handle that yourself.”

Lily sighed, letting her head fall back and resting her hands on her hips. She gave James a minute’s head start to get farther along the train before slowly making the walk back to her own compartment.

* * *

“I think that was the best feast yet.” Mary dropped spread eagle onto her bed, resting both hands on her full stomach.

Marlene snorted. “You say that every year.”

“It gets better every year.”

Lily laughed, pulling off her robes and rummaging through her trunk for a large tee shirt. It felt nice to be back in the dorm, in the same bed that she had slept in for the last five years. It felt closer to home than she would admit, and she Summoned her cigarette case from the pocket of her trousers bunched on the floor, opening the window.

“Oh, good idea!” Marlene joined her on the window seat, pulling out her own cigs. 

“ _Must_ you smoke in here?” Their roommate Diane Clearwater wrinkled her nose. 

“Yes,” Marlene replied bluntly, blowing a smoke ring in Diane’s direction. 

Soumya Patil, the fifth and final Gryffindor 6th year girl, rolled her eyes. “Really, Marlene? Come on, Diane, let’s just go downstairs.” They left quickly, Diane slamming the door behind them.

Lily giggled as Mary scoffed at them. “ _Must_ you antagonize her on the first night back?”

Marlene blew another smoke ring. “ _ Yes _ , I  _ must _ . She’s a twat.”

“Soumya’s nice though, usually,” Lily pointed out. She blew her smoke out the window, not having quite mastered smoke rings yet, though not for lack of trying.

“Why’s she hang out with Diane then?”

“Because she’s  _ nice _ , unlike you.” Marlene stuck her tongue out but still passed Mary a cigarette when she held her hand out.

The rest of the train ride had passed uneventfully, and Lily was pleased to have confiscated not one but three packs of cigarettes. Some were a bit harsher than she usually preferred, but beggars can't be choosers--cigarettes were high on the list of banned items that Filch kept posted on his office door. Lily thought it was rather odd that he didn’t just Vanish any cigarette trash or smoke in the halls, but she didn’t question it, rather enjoying the fact that his rules kept her from having to spend more money on her bad habit. She curled one leg up onto the window seat now, watching the smoke from her cig curling up out the window and thinking about their arrival at school.

Mary was right, the feast had been delicious, and there hadn’t been too much grumbling from the student body when Professor Dumbledore officially announced the new rule about no magic in the corridors. Lily was pleased to see that Gryffindor got 12 new students this year, and she had let the 5th year Prefects lead everyone to the common room after dinner. She hung back, looking for James and his friends, but they had disappeared in the crowd. 

“Do you think I should talk to Remus?”

Mary finished lighting her cigarette off of Marlene’s cherry and furrowed her brows. “About what?”

“That bit on the train.”

“Nah,” Marlene waved the question away. “I mean, yes, honestly, eventually. Like, it wasn’t a real row or anything, but you should probably talk it out. But not tonight.”

“You think?”

Mary nodded. “From what you said, it sounds like he could use somebody to talk to about the pressure, anyway. I’m sure it’s not easy being their mate  _ and _ a Prefect.”

“Definitely not,” Marlene added. “Though I think they all calmed down a lot this summer. They seemed pretty decent away from the Slytherins, anyway.”

“Oh? Did you see them over the hols?” Lily tried to keep her voice light, examining her cigarette. 

“Um, yeah, actually. Mum is friends with Euphemia - I think they’re on some committee together or in a book club or something. We were there for a couple of weeks in the beginning of August.”

“Was it fun?”

“Yeah, I guess. The boys played Quidditch a lot and I mostly worked on homework and my tan.” 

“Oh, ok.” Lily glanced up in time to see Marlene and Mary exchange a look. She swallowed, stubbing her cigarette out on the windowsill and waving her wand to Vanish the smoke, and tucked the remaining butt back into her case. “I think I’m going to go to bed. I’m always really tired after the train.”

“Ok, Lils. See you in the morning.”

Lily was quick to brush her teeth and crawl into bed, pulling the curtains shut behind her. If Mary and Marlene had anything to say, they waited until after she fell asleep to say it.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my new thing--Question #1 of 36 Questions That Lead to Love. Literally just google '36 questions that lead to love', I'm using it as a frame. It's Jily and slowburn and fluffy and if you like that and you like this installment then you should subscribe to the series! Because I have no idea how often I'll update and can't in good conscience tell you a schedule because I'll probably fuck it up! But I do have the first like 6 chapters at least drafted if not publish-ready so it's not gonna be like 8 months until I post something else (I promise). Lemme know what you think pls!


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